Think PCs are dead? Check out these crazy mods

Who says you can't hide a PC inside a pimp hat? AMD thinks you can do that and many more things with PCs.
Daniel Terdiman/CNET

AUSTIN, Texas--The PC is so not dead.

That's what AMD, one of the world's largest makers of processors, wants the world to know. And at SXSW, the chipmaker is putting its money where its mouth is and showing off a collection of modded PCs masquerading as art.

During its Technograffiti event here tonight, AMD will let the world get a glimpse of a series of PC mods that it hopes will convince people who think mobile devices have fully supplanted PCs that there's still some life remaining in the full-size computer.

"We want people to reimagine the PC a little bit," said Chris Hook, who runs public relations for AMD's graphics group. "We want them to look at it as a work of art."

Hook said Technograffiti is AMD's take on a street art fair, and while that may be a stretch for an event being held inside the offices of Edelman, one of the world's biggest PR firms, his point is understood. With PCs modded to look like pimp hats, astronaut helmets, model rocket launchers, and even a working popcorn machine, it's clear that the PC may have a little life left, even if many people have migrated to iPads or other smaller computing devices.